On Your Side
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: A rewrite of my OC's back story: Bridget was Ken's savior- she defended him although she didn't even know his name. After physically attacking a bully, Bridget is expelled and Ken feels the blame for it. So he decides to follow her to her new school in hopes that he can protect her. It... doesn't exactly go out as planned... at first...
1. 2KEC

Ken had started counting how many times he had been thrown to the ground today. Five. If you wanted to know, he had been thrown down five times so far today. It was going to be six in another three seconds by the time Freddy was done with him.

"Next time brat," Freddy threatened, getting dangerously close to Ken's face. "When I _tell_ you to stay in the locker, you _better_ stay there. I don't know how you got out last time- but this time I'll make you stay in your place!"

Ken gave a groan of discomfort from being in pain that somehow gave Freddy the allowance to roughly pick Ken up by the collar. Nearby in the music room, some kids were practicing for the school's talent show. Silently, Ken prayed that one of them would stop for just long enough to save him. Freddy could hear them too, and snickered a bit.

"They're not going to save you." Freddy told Ken as if he could read his mind, "No one in this school cares about you, brat!"

"I don't think any one really cares about you either Freddy." a voice said from the music room door. "But at least people don't attempt to stuff you in a locker every Wednesday."

Both boys turned their heads to look at the source of the voice. It came from a rather pretty looking girl with blue hair that was curled at the ends and matching blue eyes that somehow looked to be sparkling under the school's poor lighting.

"Bridget!" Ken unintentionally squeaked in praise. His savior looked at him in a confused way that made him realize that she didn't exactly know her name. Funny thing though, she's come to his rescue so many times before and yet she still didn't know his name... but he knew hers.

"Let the military brat go Freddy." she warned.

"You can't make me you sl-"

"That's no way to talk to a lady." a voice said as a tall boy with messy black hair and piercing amber eyes came out of the music room. Upon seeing him, Freddy immediately dropped Ken.

"V-Viktor... I-I-I wasn't going to hurt the brat, promise!" Freddy instantly began to stammer. Viktor said nothing but stared the bully down. Quickly, Freddy scrambled away without any other instruction.

"Are you alright?" Bridget asked as she helped Ken get up.

"Yeah." Ken said coolly, although he couldn't control his body from trembling.

"Are you sure?" Bridget asked as she started to reach toward his forehead, "You have a big bruise right..."

"I'm fine!" Ken said quickly as he jumped away from her reach. Bridget recoiled as well, an act that made Ken fear that he had made her upset.

"Come on Bridget," Viktor said from the door. "We promised Mrs Delarosa that we'd borrow the music room for ten more minutes, let's not put her kindness to waste."

Bridget turned to look at Viktor.

"Alright." she agreed with a small smile. "Let's finish practice and we'll go out someplace."

With that, the duo forgot about Ken and left him standing in the hallway. It didn't bother him that much- at least they had come to help him. Not everyone did that, if they did. Bridget was different and he liked her for that. Even though he found it pathetic that she was the one saving him all the time- maybe one day things will be different...?

. . .

Bridget's fingers anxiously drummed on the plastic lunch tray. Viktor was trying to tell her something, but she was unknowingly tuning him out. Her vision was locked on that boy she had helped earlier (helped many times, she realized) as he sat alone at a lunch table that was across the room from where she sat.

"Bridget, I need you to listen for a moment." Viktor's voice then rang loud and clear as her old friend placed his hand on hers to gain her attention. Bridget jumped a good three feet out of her seat in surprise. She had also ended up whacking her knee into the table that shot a very high level of pain of her leg. Bridget let out a squeak in pain as Viktor waited for her to settle down again.

"Sorry." Bridget eventually apologized. "My mind was somewhere else..."

"Go sit with him." Viktor told her in a manner that caught her by surprise. She looked at him for a minute in confusion, in return, he stared at her solemnly.

"You do this every day Bridget," Viktor told her calmly, "If you want to sit with Kentin then go ahead."

"Only if you come with me." Bridget said meekly. Viktor gave his response with a stare. "I don't want to die alone..."

"It's _your_ decision."

Bridget looked at Viktor hopelessly before beginning to stand up. But as Bridget started to swing her leg over to leave, Lucy came over and sat down beside her- giving Bridget the initiative to sit back down again. The two exchanged a look and Lucy immediately knew what was going on.

"Are you having your 2KEC already?" Lucy asked with a faint smile on her lips.

"My 2K what?" Bridget asked, looking at Lucy as if she had gained another head. Lucy rolled her eyes playfully.

"Ken Kindness Existential Crisis." the raven haired girl said as if it were as simple as telling the weather. Both Bridget and Viktor gave Lucy the same bewildered look.

"Hey," Lucy then told Bridget, "If you want to commit social suicide by talking to him, go ahead. I won't stop you from creating some kind of romance novel thing- you deserve it after Viktor decided your relationship was platonic."

For some reason, hearing it out loud made Bridget cringe. She and Viktor had been close to each other since kindergarten, and last year she thought about getting into a relationship with him since they were so close any way- but he shot her down kindly, admitting that he had only saw her as a sister and that he felt that a relationship between the two of them wouldn't have changed a thing for them. With this embarrassing memory taking over her mind, Bridget no longer felt like she wanted to sit next to Viktor and Lucy anymore.

Wordlessly, Bridget gathered her things and got up to go sit with Ken. Neither of her friends bid her farewell, they only stared at her in a way that Bridget could feel burn through her chest and into her heart. As she got closer to Ken, Bridget began to realize that he was staring into space and seemed to be smiling about something. Even after she had sat down next to him, Ken didn't fully realize she was sitting across from him for a good five minutes. When Ken did finally notice her, his reaction was nearly priceless and it had made Bridget giggle a bit.

"D-don't laugh at me!" Ken told her nervously as his face started to flush in a deep red color.

"Sorry." Bridget apologized, partially meaning it.

"W-why did you want to-" Ken started to say but Bridget was quick to stop him.

"I'm here to eat, not to talk." Bridget quickly told him. "I _will_ ignore you if you try, so just don't."

For a moment, Ken looked at her then started to smile brightly.

"Thank you." he said, believing that thanking his savior this way would have been the easiest. True to her word, Bridget said nothing back as she stabbed her fork into the school-made meatloaf.


	2. The Savior Can Sing

"Are we ready?" Bridget asked Viktor as he tuned his guitar. After fussing over the G string for a little, Viktor looked at Bridget and nodded.

"What about you Lucy?" Bridget then asked her other friend was going to man an electric piano.

"I'm ready." Lucy said, giving a thumbs up.

"We're ready!" Bridget said into the microphone as she looked up toward the sound booth where the vice principal stood supervising.

"You three can begin at any time." the vice principal told them through the intercom. Bridget took one last look at her friends before turning toward the mike and taking a deep breath out. Unknown to her, among other students that lazily hung around the auditorium, Ken sat in the back most row watching her patiently and doing his best not to be seen. For the most part, he was doing a rather decent job of not being seen so far- if only it would last like that all day...

"Regrets collect like old friends... here to relive your darkest moments." Bridget timidly began to sing. Ken's whole body froze at the stillness and calm of her voice in the middle of the sounds of general teen discussion within the auditorium. He wasn't the only one that noticed either- everyone shut down their conversations to hear her.

"Every demon wants his pound of flesh, but I'd like to keep somethings to myself..." Bridget continued to sing as Viktor began to strum his guitar. "I like to keep my issues drawn... it's always darkest before the dawn...

"I've been a fool and I've been blind, I can never leave the past behind... I can see no way, I can see no way... Our love has pastured such a mournful sound, tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground! I always like to keep my issues strong, it's always darkest before the dawn..."

"Shake it out, shake it out, a-whoa... Shake it out, shake it out, a-whoa..." Lucy and Viktor then sang faintly as they played their respective instruments.

Ken became engrossed in their performance- he didn't even realize he couldn't feel the floor any more or was aware that he was even sitting to begin with. Unconsciously, Ken had started to get closer and closer toward the stage...

So the savior could sing. Decently too, but it wasn't anything that could have gone pro though.

"Ken... what are you doing?" Bridget asked, kneeling on the stage so she could be near eye level to Ken on the auditorium floor. The trio had finished their song as Ken had walked up to the stage in an apparent trance that he still seemed to be in. Everyone was staring at Ken- but the only thing he saw was Bridget and how the light from overhead of the stage made her look so...

A sudden and sharp pain in his side made Ken fall over in surprise, and come to the rude reality of staring at the floor as several classmates started to snicker at him. Ken turned around and looked at Freddy's smirking face. Bridget was up on stage, fit to be tied and being restrained by Viktor.

"What the _hell_ is your problem Frederick?!" Bridget was screaming, doing all she could to get out of Viktor's rather tight grasp. "He wasn't doing anything wrong you jackass, why the hell did you do it?!"

"Miss Misako, please restrain yourself." the vice principal said from over the intercom. Bridget glared up at the sound booth, got out of Viktor's grasp, and ran to the microphone.

"Tell the jackass that he can't shove the brat!" Bridget practically screamed.

"Miss Misako, please leave the stage."

"No!"

Ken stared at the blue haired girl with wonder. She was fighting tooth and nail to defend him- and he didn't even know what had just happened.  
>"Miss Misako, if you will not leave the stage soon, we will be forced to take extreme measures."<p>

"Not until you tell Frederick to fuck off!"

The student body around them looked between a furious Bridget and their barely visible vice principal in the sound booth to see what would happen next. Ken continued to stay on the ground, unsure if he should feel embarrassed, mystified, or scared.

"Do you even know his name Miss Misako?" the vice principal then asked in a calm manner. With this in mind, Bridget gave a wild glance at Ken's direction. Realizing some truth in what the vice principal was getting at, Bridget's jaw clenched tightly in frustration before turning around to hurl the microphone in Freddy's direction. The act made many students jump out of the way- it made a few others snicker as the microphone just barely missed Freddy by half a centimeter.

"I will see you in my office." the vice principal said one last time over the intercom.

Bridget snarled and started to head toward the stage's stairs. But for a moment she stopped, then she spun on her heel and made a leap off the stage. Several of the students that were watching her gasped in surprise and hastily got out of the way- although they secretly wished she would hurt herself upon landing. Bridget's feet planted the ground in the same manner a gymnast would finished out their routine, she was safe... for outward appearances at least.

Bridget threw one hard glare at Ken then started to walk out of the auditorium with her head held high- a desperate attempt to hold back tears that really illustrated how angry she was.

. . .

"What do you need to say for yourself Miss Misako?" the vice principal asked her calmly.

"I should have stuck that microphone stand up Freddy's ass."

"You know that is not what I mean."

"Then I have nothing to say." Bridget mumbled. The vice principal raised a gray haired and perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"You do realize madam that I can easily call your parents to inform them of your... episode."

Bridget did not answer, knowing that her words would not help her case, and instead refused to give the vice principal eye contact. The vice principal coolly changed his gaze from Bridget to the intercom system on his desk.

"Mrs Bito, can you get Bridget Misako's father on the line?" the vice principal asked into the intercom after pressing a button on the system.

"Yes sir." the dutiful secretary agreed through the intercom. With this new idea in place, the vice principal looked back at Bridget. She still sat there like a spoiled child that wasn't getting her way. However, whatever the vice principal thought he could do to her would have been lost on her father- Bridget could feel it. Her father was going to take her side in the situation. At least, Bridget hoped he would...

After a few moments, the secretary's voice came over the intercom again;

"Philip Misako is on line three sir."

"Thank you Sherry." the vice principal said into the intercom before picking up the receiver. To the phone, the vice principal said the following in a rather official (and to Bridget, bragging) tone;

"I'm sorry to have bothered you at work Philip, but I wanted to talk about your daughter Bridget."

Bridget looked at the vice principal as he talked to her father about the events that had transpired barely an hour earlier. The vice principal tried to gloss around the areas wherein Freddy had kicked the military brat that gave way to Bridget's rebellion; but as the conversation went on, it was the only thing Bridget's father became concerned about. Bridget smirked as the vice principal's plan to put her in a bad light crumbled to pieces.

"Whatever the circumstances may be," the vice principal then said, looking flustered and embarrassed from losing the conversation, "I insist that you pick Bridget up as soon as possible. She is not allowed on the premises for the rest of the day."

With a mild slam, the vice principal set the receiver down then looked at Bridget.

"You will stay here until your father comes to pick you up young lady. It will give you enough time to think about what you have done."

Bridget attempted to be emotionless as the vice principal walked out of his office in an irritated and flustered mood. To be honest though, she was glad he had got what was coming to him.


	3. Unjust Justice

"I'm glad you stood up for that boy, Bridgie, but you didn't have to curse."

"So... am I really in trouble for all this?"

Bridget's father gave her a quick look as they drove home.

"Your mother and I will have to discuss it when she comes home." Philip told his daughter. Bridget shrunk a little in her seat, to which he took notice of and added; "But I'm proud of you no matter what."

"Thanks Dad."

. . .

Bridget stared up at her ceiling as she wanted for her parents to discuss her 'punishment'. Justice had been served... just not to Bridget. In the back of her mind, she wondered how the military brat was doing...

There was a knock on Bridget's closed bedroom door, then it slowly creaked open. Bridget sat straight up when she saw her parents walk through her door.

"Am I in trouble?" Bridget asked, glancing from one parent to another.

"No." her father finally said. Bridget nearly fell off of the bed- that certainly wasn't the answer she was expecting...

"You stood up for a fellow classmate," her mother said as she walked over to Bridget's bed, "Although we didn't appreciate the language you used, you still did what was right."

Bridget looked at her parents. She didn't expect them to be so easy going about this.

"You mean it?" Bridget asked, still feeling as if the conversation was a trap and they were going to be harsher on her any moment now. Her parents only smiled at her though, which didn't ease Bridget's thoughts any.

"Dinner will be ready in another hour." her mother said, giving a playful whack at Bridget's foot. The conversation was over now- but Bridget was more confused than what she had been earlier.

. . .

"How does it look?" Bridget asked Lucy as they got ready for the talent show. Lucy was applying make up on Bridget so she didn't look pale on stage- Bridget had already done the same to Lucy several minutes before.

Lucy took a step back to admire her handiwork.

"Not bad." she said, reaching over on a small stool to get a mirror so Bridget could see herself. Bridget looked at herself for a little then gave the mirror back to Lucy.

"Where's Viktor?" Bridget asked, looking around for the only guitar player they knew.

"I think the guys get ready somewhere else." Lucy told Bridget. "He's going to meet us on stage."

Bridget nodded as a guy with an armful of flowers came into the dressing room.

"Bridget Misako?!" the guy called out.

"Over here!" Bridget shouted back as she waved her hand so he could see her. The guy walked over to her then handed her a bouquet of roses.

"From an admirer." he said curtly before turning around to shout another name.

Bridget looked at the roses.

"Why would Mom and Dad send me flowers when I just saw them five minutes ago?" she wondered. Lucy groaned and sighed at the same time. Bridget looked at her.

"What's that about?" Bridget accused.

"You parents wouldn't send a bouquet of roses to you at this time, especially since you saw them not that long ago and they didn't even mention flowers."

"Then who are they from?" Bridget questioned. To this, Lucy seemed to ignore her but had a wide grin of arrogance.

"Lucy tell me!" Bridget demanded at the same time the production manager shouted, "All acts on stage, the show is going to begin in five minutes!"

Lucy gave Bridget a mysterious and rather cheeky smile before taking her by the arm and walking out the door.

The duo navigated their way backstage through a sea of other students and found Viktor along the way.

"There you are." Viktor told the two girls. "You both look nice."

"Thanks." Bridget and Lucy said at the same time.

"Look who I caught in the girls' dressing room!" Freddy's rather obnoxious voice shouted to all backstage.

Viktor, Lucy, and Bridget turned around to see Freddy drag Ken in by the collar then roughly toss the military brat on the ground. Ken remained on the ground, his face growing red as students gathered around him. Bridget stared at him in confusion, then she realized something; he had sent her the flowers. But why he hanging around the dressing rooms...? Was he... watching her?

"It's rude to watch young ladies dress, brat." Freddy threatened to Ken as he picked the military brat up from the collar again. "Maybe someone should teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

Then, to everyone's surprise, Freddy punched Ken as hard as he could in the stomach. It took a few seconds, but soon the student body started to chant 'fight!' over and over as Freddy looked at the defenseless Ken maliciously. Again, Freddy landed in punch at Ken's stomach that looked as if it hurt much more the second time. Bridget was furious- but when she moved, Viktor's firm hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"You are in enough trouble as it is Bridget, you shouldn't get involved." Viktor told her, making her look him in the eye.

Bridget gave a frantic look at Ken and Freddy as the bully hit the brat again in a way that made Bridget flinch unintentionally.

"Maybe you're right..." Bridget started to say. Viktor looked at her before slowly taking his hand off of her. At first, Bridget had no intention of defending Ken this one last time; but that was before Bridget saw that Ken was bleeding. Something inside Bridget's mind snapped as Freddy started to press his foot down on Ken's head. The world started to go black as Bridget heard Freddy say something along the lines of 'Let's squish the bug's head.' When Bridget regained her vision and rational thinking, Freddy was now on the floor crying, Ken was staring at her with wide eyes, both Lucy and Viktor were trying to keep her restrained, and the vice principal was so livid that he could have looked like a tomato.

"Thanks to your reckless behaviors, we had to cancel the talent show!" the vice principal told Bridget, Freddy, and Ken later in his office. "A lot of parents are angry at us for the sudden cancellation. Do you three have any idea of the disaster you have caused for us? What do you three need to say for yourselves?"

Neither of the kids looked up or said anything. The principal took this as a cue to continue his speech-rant.

"Due to your aggressive behaviors, the school board has decided that Frederick will be suspended for seven days while Bridget is expelled permanently."

"What?!" Bridget shouted, getting up so quickly that she was a little dizzy. Or she was really angry again- she couldn't decide which at the moment. "Why am I the one being expelled?!"

"You attacked a schoolmate." the vice principal told her simply enough.

"Freddy attacked him first!"

"Young madam, I understand a part of your frustration- but the board has decided..."

"Screw the board! Freddy is the bully here!"

Freddy snickered a little.

"They have screwed- both my parents are on the board."

Hearing this made Bridget even angrier and she nearly turned around to grab his neck to strangle him. Ken sat in his seat with his head still down- glad to be out of the conversation, but scared for what was going to happen next. One thing was for sure, he _never_ wanted to see Bridget this angry again for as long as he lived.

The vice principal remained unmoved.

"Miss Misako, if it is that time of the month that you ladies need- please report to the nurse immediately, I will not tolerate this behavior."

Ken covered his ears and shut his eyes as tight as he could so he couldn't hear or see Bridget's justified rage.


	4. New Plans

"Auntie Tata!" Bridget exclaimed happily when she saw her aunt pull into the drivelane. Lucia, Bridget's mother, lingered on the porch as she watched her sister get out of the car.

"Bridgie!" Lucia heard her sister said happily as she gave Bridget a hug. "Are you ready to go?"

Lucia cleared her throat loud enough so the aunt and niece could hear her clearly. The giddy duo looked at Lucia then walked over to the porch to have a proper conversation.

"Hello Agatha." Lucia said to her sister with a light smile. "It's been awhile, how about you come inside and relax a little?"

"I'd love to Lucia! Thank you!" Agatha agreed with a brilliant smile. With that, the three ladies entered the house and into the living room.

"Would you like anything to drink Agatha?" Lucia asked as she started to head toward the kitchen.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Are you sure?"

"Lucia, dear, Amour Sucre is only an hour and a half away- I'm fine!"

Agatha then turned toward her niece.

"Are you excited sweetie?" she asked happily. "I can hardly wait for you to move in!"

Bridget smile brightly at Agatha, but slowly started to frown.

"I... I am kinda nervous." Bridget admitted. "I'm going to go to a new school, meet some new friends, be away from my parents until the summer... Auntie, the butterflies in my stomach are going to make me throw up!"

Agatha reached over and gave Bridget's knee a squeeze.

"You'll do wonderful." Agatha told her reassuringly. "I know you can do it."

Bridget smiled weakly at her aunt as Lucia came back into the living room with a suitcase filled with Bridget's clothes.

"I hope you have everything in here Bridge," Lucia said with an exhausted huff as she set it down near Bridget and Agatha. "It feels like you packed a whole clothing store in there."

Bridget started to laugh, although it had been a little nervous. Agatha soon joined in, and soon Lucia laughed too. It was all nervous and anxiety induced- but well needed.

. . .

Ken looked at the live feed of his father on the family television nervously.

"That is why I think I should attend Sweet Amoris in Amour Sucre. I... I, uh, owe it to her." Ken said with a good measure of anxiety. "We're... we're nearly on the border of Amour Sucre any way. And... and I'll protect myself -protect her- and if I can't then... then you can send me to... to military school, like you want."

Giles looked at his son in surprise. Sure, the military senior officer wanted his son to attend a military school, but if there was a way around it (and there had always been away around it) then it went undisclosed and kept at that. But what Ken was offering was a raw, and rather tricky, deal.

"Have you talked to your mother about this?" Giles asked, his booming voice overpowering the concern and curiosity in his voice. Ken nodded.

"Then I have no further say in the matter." Giles told his son. "If you slip up one time -you break that promise that you just old me- then you will be sent to military school. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Ken agreed with a salute. A smile etched across Ken's face; boy was Bridget going to be surprised!

But there was one factor neither of them were prepared for: Amber.


	5. Time Skip

_A year and some later,_

_After the Open House._

. . .

"I'm gonna do it Bridget, just try to stop me!" Alexy declared as they walked home after school.

"Stop you from doing what, exactly?" Bridget asked, giving Alexy a confused look. Alexy quickened his step a little to stand in front of her- perfectly stopping the both of them from walking further.

"I know where Kentin lives." Alexy started. Bridget gave him a funny look and folded her arms, but said nothing. Alexy took this as a sign to continue, "So tonight, I'm going to steal him in his sleep, lock him away in my basement, then keep him overnight and no one will be none the wiser."

"Okay..." Bridget started as she unfolded her arms and placed them on her hips, "What do you plan on doing to Kentin in your basement?"

"I... haven't thought about it yet." Alexy admitted.

"And how come I have a faint feeling this will involve me in some way?" Bridget then said, shifting her weight to the right.

"You see," Alexy started to say with a lowered voice, "I have reason to believe the Kentin has a single-target sexuality."

"Oh?" Bridget asked with a bemused look. "And who (or what) is this 'single-target'?"

"You." Alexy immediately said without missing a beat. Bridget's face then screwed itself into a multitude of different expressions but never settling on just one to show prominent. As amusing as Alexy found it, he decided to continue explaining his plan.

"Which is why I'll need you to help me lure Kentin out of his bed and into my basement."

Bridget looked Alexy over, then walked past him.

"No, no, no! Bridge come back! It'll work!" Alexy called out as Bridget walked away.

"I have no doubt it will," Bridget hollered back, not stopping for a minute, "I'm just not going to pay your bail when you get caught!"

"Please Bridget!" Alexy shouted, finding that he had to jog a bit to catch up with her again. "Do it for love!"

. . .

Kentin gently touched the hunter's outfit he had from the Open House play. He remembered how he had protected Bridget for the first -and so far only- time. But that was all an act, it wasn't a real situation that could have hurt her somehow- but it made him remember the mission he had given himself a year back. The actual improv he used, however, likely didn't need to happen in retrospect. But that was when his memory decided to crash back into him with the full-on violence of being run over by a truck.

He didn't help her out much during the Deborah arc because he was still trying to test if Bridget was the same as before. She hadn't changed too much, really, which made Kentin very grateful. Bridget also hung around Alexy often which made things more of a convenience after Kentin had found a friend in Armin. The four of them didn't spend much time together though. Alexy liked to take Bridget shopping around the same time Armin wanted Kentin to join him for GTA 5 or NBA Live 15. As much as Kentin loved throwing the controller up the wall for the umpteenth time while Armin made it seem easy, some times he just wanted to go with Alexy and Bridget to see what they were like unmanned at the local mall.

Knowing Alexy, it was likely very frightening.

Kentin needed a plan; something that would make Bridget realize that he always had her back. Thinking back on the Deborah episodes with a tinge of regret, Kentin was almost confident that Bridget thought less of him because no one was on her side during that time. He should have- but he didn't. Maybe he could covertly ask Rosalya what Bridget liked. The only thing wrong with that plan as far as Kentin was sure of was Rosalya herself. Still, he was going to think of something; even if he didn't know what he'd think of.

Eventually, Kentin went with asking Rosalya any way. Surprisingly, her answer was rather simple;

"Take her to the boardwalk- they have carnival stuff there all year."

Kentin's initial reaction was to stare at Bridget's flamboyant friend.

"Are you sure?" Kentin asked, almost certain there was more to what Rosalya was letting on.

"Bridget's basic." Rosalya said with a faint eye roll. "She'd love it even if things went incredibly wrong. Even you couldn't mess it up."

"Gee, thanks." Kentin told her. It was an idea though- and Kentin was going to take it no matter how simple it seemed.


	6. Deal

Kentin tried hard not to give Bridget's father direct eye contact. The way Philip was looking at Kentin made the young man remember a conversation his parents once had and how they joked about Kentin being born a girl. Kentin remembered in particular the part where Giles had joked about using every surveillance system given to the military to track any of female Kentin's potential suitors. Right now, purposely avoiding the gaze Philip was giving him, Kentin felt that Bridget's father would have attempted something similar if he had the resources.

"Bridge!" Philip shouted, "Kentin's waiting for you!"

As if it were a response, a crash was heard that came from Bridget's room.

"I, uh... I'm having some closet problems." Bridget then shouted after the men had gotten in a position ready to bolt to see what had happened. "I will... I'll be done in a few."

Knowing this, Kentin absolutely could not stand being alone near Philip any longer.

"May I go up to check on her?" Kentin asked, almost looking Philip in the eye.

"Knock before you go in." Philip said. Kentin nodded in agreement then quickly started to go up to Bridget's room and out of her father's eye range. Doing as he had promised, Kentin knocked on Bridget door and waited for her to say 'Come in' before entering her room. When he opened the door, Kentin was greeting with Bridget tying a belt onto her pink kimono styled shirt and one of her shoes was on the floor while its friend was on her foot.

"I know you're a bit wary about Kentin, Dad." Bridget said, not even looking at Kentin as she put her other shoe on, "But he's really a sweet guy- and he can protect me if someone tries something!"

Kentin opened his mouth to correct her, but she kept going without realizing that it was him.

"I know what you're thinking," Bridget said as she started to walk toward Kentin, "Kentin is kind of like Viktor in the sense he'd never let anything happen to me, but Kentin really knows self defense- unlike Viktor who just stared people down. Everything will be fine, just trust me, okay?"

Without so much as looking at Kentin, Bridget gave him a kiss as she walked by.

"I'll see you soon." she said before heading out the door. Kentin turned around and saw her pause for a moment when she finally realized that it wasn't her father she had kissed. Bridget whipped her head around with a look of fear and embarrassment etched on her face.

"That didn't happen." Bridget quickly told him- her face growing red.

"What happened?" Kentin asked with a shrug. The goofy smile on his face knew full well what had happened, and it made Bridget give a small smile back.

"Are you ready to go then?" Bridget asked him.

"Been ready." Kentin told her with a beaming smile. "Just one thing."

"Oh?"

"Who's Viktor?"

Bridget looked at him slyly as she thought of her answer.

"I'll tell you," she said, "After you buy me cotton candy at the boardwalk."

Kentin weighed his options for a moment, then nodded with agreement.

"Deal."


End file.
